Summary:
This bill will require all social workers to be trained in their duty to protect your constitutional and statutory rights during an investigation. Furthermore, this bill will require social workers to inform you of the allegations against you during an investigation. Up until this point, social workers in Nevada often will not tell what the individual is accused of and simply demand entry into the home. They also are not currently trained in your Fourth Amendment rights.

Status:

3/29/2005

Introduced and referred to Committee on Human Resources and Education.

4/22/2005

From committee: Amend, and do pass as amended.

4/26/2005

Engrossed, re-read, and passed as amended

4/27/2005

In Assembly. Referred to Committee on Health and Human Services.

06/06/2005

Passed

HSLDA's Position:
This bill should be supported.

Action Requested:

Please call as many members of the Assembly Health and Human Services committee as possible and give them this message:

"Please vote in favor of SB 402. This bill will give needed constitutional protections to Nevada citizens during child welfare investigations. If Nevada wants to continue to get federal funds for their child welfare agencies, they must pass this law in order to implement the federal law."

Members of the Assembly Health and Human Services Committee are as follows:

Sheila Leslie - Chair

775-684-8845

Kathy McClain - Vice Chair

75-684-8835

Susan Gerhardt

775-684-8855

William Horne

775-684-8847

Ellen Koivisto

775-684-8597

Bonnie Parnell

775-684-8825

Peggy Pierce

775-684-8599

Sharron Angle

775-684-8848

Joe Hardy

775-684-8857

Garn Mabey

775-684-8827

Valerie Weber

775-684-8833

Please forward this e-mail to every homeschooling family you know who is not a member of HSLDA and urge them to contact members of the Committee and their own state representative.

Background:

On June 25, 2003, President George W. Bush signed into law the Keeping Children andFamilies Safe Act of 2003 (S. 342). HSLDA was able to attach two amendments that will protect families during the child investigative process. The bill requires child protective services workers to be trained in their duty to protect the statutory and constitutional rights of those they are investigating, and requires child protective services personnel to advise individuals subject to a child abuse and neglect investigation of the complaint or allegation made against them.

This is the most significant reform on social worker investigations in the last decade.

It is important to implement this legislation at the state level for the following reasons:

Protection for Homeschool Families. HSLDA deals with cases on a daily basis where a social worker is investigating a homeschool family because of false allegations. These tips, often supplied by those holding a grudge against home education, are often investigated aggressively. Social workers frequently demand to conduct physical inspections of homeschool children or to interview very young children outside the presence of their parents.

Oftentimes social workers refuse to state the allegation they are investigating, and usually conduct the investigation in a manner that violates the 4th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution.

If these HSLDA provisions are enacted into Nevada law, they will provide crucial protection for innocent homeschool families and minimize the trauma of an investigation.

Federally Mandated. These reforms were passed at the federal level. The Department of Heath and Human Services has stated that the most efficient and effective implementation is if the provisions are codified at the state level.

Congress' Intent. If this bill is enacted into Nevada law, it will guarantee that Congressional intent is implemented properly and completely in order to not jeopardize the state's child welfare funding.

Social Worker Liability. If social workers are trained in the 4th Amendment and parental rights of families, they will be on notice of their duty to follow 4th Amendment due process, making themselves personally liable should they violate these rights. If this law is passed it will keep social workers properly chained by the Constitution.